My Sweet Pea is Nine Months Old

 9th Month Milestones

HEIGHT/WEIGHT

No doctors appointments this month so you didn't have an official weigh in.  You are just about out of all of your 6 month outfits but your 6-9 month clothes still fit with a little room to spare.

SLEEPING

You are down to two naps a day.  The first falls between 10:00 and 11:00 and the second falls somewhere between 2:30 and 3:00.  After your night time routine of eating dinner, and getting ready for bed, you nurse for a little bit and then snuggle until you're sleepy.  Bedtime usually falls between 8:00 and 8:30.  On most nights you will stay down for about seven hours of uninterrupted slumber before you want to nurse again (yes, you're still not sleeping all the way through the night but as long as you're on the smallish size I don't want to discourage any feedings).  When you wake up to nurse I bring you to bed with us where we all finish up our night together.  You are usually up smiling, babbling, and kicking your Daddy in the head by about 7:00 to 8:00 every morning.

EATING

Your eating routine is as follows; you nurse when you wake up between 7:00 and 8:00, after your morning nap you nurse again and have some fruits and veggies (I found out pretty darn quickly that you like to do it yourself {surprise - surprise}and you prefer small bits to puree), after your afternoon nap you nurse again.  At 7:00 you eat your dinner of cereal and fruit and at 8:00 you nurse before you head off to bed.  

PLAYTIME

You love to play; alone, with Sophia, with Mommy, with Daddy, with Dot, with Ripley, in your crib, on the floor, in our arms, in your stroller.  You just really like to play and who would blame you - it's fun.  We did get you a Tigger Doorway Bouncer that you LOVE!!!  You have also quickly found out that while in the bouncer you can walk, swing, play tag with the girls, and twirl.  I think twirling is your favorite.  

WHAT'S NEW

You started out with an awesome army crawl that only goes in reverse and instead of figuring out a better way to get around you've just learned how to get where you want to go that way, on your belly - rear end first.  You've also figured out how to pull yourself up onto your knees while your in your crib and your look of accomplishment is priceless.  

Your new found independence along with your idea on how the world should work has created quite the little personality.  You have this "thing" you do that seems to be totally random.  You look around and then scream at the top of your lungs (sometimes the scream is accompanied by a tiny fit where you throw yourself backwards) at first I thought this was just you "finding your voice" but now I know this is you letting us know that something isn't just the way you want or have imagined it would be.  Your Daddy and I just let you have your moment and then we sing you this little number: 

"You can't always get what you want
No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find

you get what you need 

ya baby, you get what you need"

It seems to do the trick to calm you down and then we redirect you into some other activity or help you move so you can do/reach/see what you want.  

Your growing a little bit of a sense of humor which is hilarious.  You and Sophia can sit for so long and just crack each other up.  For example one of you will accidentally bonk your head with a toy and the other will laugh.  So then whoever did the original bonking will keep doing it over and over again to keep the giggles coming.  You also do this with us at picture time.  You know we're trying to get your picture and we'll say "Alessandra picture time." and you give us some pretty funny little expressions.  You're such a crack up!

It's become really hard for us to get a serious pictures like this 

because you are always giving us pictures like this.  

I do believe you got your ham-bone from your mamma.  (Insert shrug here) Sorry!  

Even with your sassy little attitude and sense of humor you are still a very laid back, easy going, accommodating little girl.  You pretty much will go anywhere and do anything with very little fuss which your Daddy REALLY appreciates.  No matter where we go you make a friend or find someone to flirt with, and even the most crotchety of crotchety old men still can't help but to smile at you when you bat your baby blues.

Really our only complaint we have about you so far is that your just growing up so fast.  We can't believe that in three short months you'll be a year old already.  OOOOHHHHH, it's too soon!!! Okay I can't think about that now.  I still have a couple of months!

Well, anyway, Happy 9 month birthday Sweet Pea!!

Love,

Mommy and Dad